September 2 - December 31, 2006

In honor of the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panther Party in Oakland, the Oakland History Room at Oakland Main Library will present an exhibit focusing on The Black Panther, the party's influential newspaper. Educate to Liberate: A Retrospective of the Black Panther Community News Service is an original exhibit displaying historic examples of the newspaper from Oakland Public Library collections as well as photographs and other archival materials on loan from the It's About Time Committee, a nonprofit group hosting a series of commemorative events in Oakland during the month of October. The free exhibit will be on display during library hours from September 2 through December 31, 2006, on the second floor of the Main Library, located at 125 14th Street.

The Black Panther began as a mimeographed newsletter published to deplore the 1967 shooting of a young African American boy by police officers in unincorporated North Richmond. The publication quickly grew to become a leading voice of the party's revolutionary message and a powerful tool for building a political base. It became well known for the striking art and graphic design of its art director Emory Douglas, the revolutionary outbursts of party officials, and its strident journalism that exposed injustice and oppression in the African American community nationally and abroad. Its distinctive pages were found throughout the inner cities of the United States, on college campuses, and at the massive festivals and protests that characterized the late 1960s.

For more information about the exhibit, please call the Oakland History Room at (510) 238-3222, or see the Library's Web site: www.oaklandlibrary.org. The Oakland Public Library is a department of the City of Oakland.